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Forum:Proposal for a new skin
War is Coming! Season 2 is not far behind it. Scott (User:XD1) kindly offered to help us with a redesign and has done loads of work on the front page already but now he has had some time with the season 2 poster and has come up with some concept ideas for new skins to fit in with the marketing of the second season. The skin is the image that sits behind all of our content, currently a rocky landscape of the north on either side of the page. I thought we had better canvas opinion before implementing anything. First, here are the concepts: #Example 1 featuring the hand and crown in close to their original orientation with a bit of nifty transparency #Example 2 featuring the hand and crown rotated 90 degrees right and cropped to fit on either side of the screen #Example 3 featuring the top of the crown rotated on both sides #Example 4 featuring the top of the crown on the right and the iron throne on the left #Example 5 featuring the top of the crown on the right and a hatching dragon egg on the left Please let us know what you think in the poll below: Which concept should we adopt as a new skin? Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 Example 4 Example 5 Keep the current skin --Opark 77 23:31, March 12, 2012 (UTC) :I really like the first option, but I'm not much a fan of the all-black appearance of the site. It's too massive: all elements blend into one another. I would go for various shades of grey. - regards, KarinS 22:42, March 21, 2012 (UTC) :Uhm. I'm not at all sure about this. The black makes the site look massive and lumpish. Plus, there has not been a decision, just a minor vote in which merely *seven* people responded.... - KarinS 19:53, March 30, 2012 (UTC) ::What would you consider a sufficient number of responses to change things? I think we should operate on the basis of consensus. If more people say they want a different option then we can change. A small consensus is sufficient for a small wiki like this with few active editors. Nothing on a wiki is ever finalized - we can constantly adjust to reflect the consensus. Perhaps contact User:XD1 about adjusting from black to grey as they are the local expert on skins. I have no objection to grey.--Opark 77 20:32, April 1, 2012 (UTC) :::I think there should at least be a discussion amongst the admins about a major change like this. - KarinS 12:27, April 2, 2012 (UTC) ::::Sorry Karin. I did make an announcement about the potential change on the main page and in community messages so that every single user who visited the site from any source would be aware of it. I could have also posted on the admins talk pages but thought I had done enough.--Opark 77 17:01, April 2, 2012 (UTC) ::::I also did post a direct message on every admins talk page inviting them to comment. You might recall the message I left on your talk page with this edit. Here are the other edits Lord of Onions, Werthead and QueenBuffy. I made every effort to invite comments from my fellow admins.--Opark 77 09:30, April 3, 2012 (UTC) :::::Inviting everybody to comment is a good thing to do. But with a big change like this, I do think it's better to also confer with the other admins. - Karin, KarinS 18:17, April 2, 2012 (UTC) ::::::I invited everyone to comment generally using multiple avenues and I asked every admin to comment specifically on their talk pages. What more would you like me to have done?--Opark 77 09:32, April 3, 2012 (UTC) :::::::Yes, I saw that message and I responded to it. That I was the only one who responded and that there were merely 8 votes all in all, shows - if anything - not a consensus, but a lack of it. With a major change like this, you need at least a few admins saying 'Yes, wonderful idea, please go ahead.' Mind you, I really appreciate all the work that you are doing, but this is rather rash. - Karin, KarinS 10:56, April 3, 2012 (UTC) ::::::::Actually you're incorrect that you were the only admin to respond, you were just the second admin to comment (I was the first). User:QueenBuffy and User:Werthead both responded by voting in the poll. User:XD1 actually designed the new skin so their support is implied. So there were 4 out of 6 admins who said "please go ahead" and one who said "I really like the first option" but also had some reservations about the black background. I don't feel it is fair to characterize implementing a change with the backing of the overwhelming majority of the admins as rash.--Opark 77 11:06, April 3, 2012 (UTC) :::::::::Saying that one likes version X better than version Y is not at all the same as saying 'please go ahead'. But if all the other admins are ok with this, I'll stop protesting, and just note that I strongly dislike the new design. - KarinS 23:31, April 3, 2012 (UTC) ::::::::::Once again your characterisation of the selection process is inaccurate. It was not a binary choice and it included the option "Keep the old skin" which absolutely no-one chose. That is the same as saying "go ahead" and change it. How about working on altering what you don't like about the new skin? What specifically bothers you? What could we change to improve it?--Opark 77 06:36, April 4, 2012 (UTC) :::::::::::I must admit that I never noticed that option.... Otherwise I certainly would have voted for that one :) The current skin is too harsh in contrast, whenever I open the website I get the feeling that I should turn down the brightness on my monitor. Perhaps sligthy veiling the yellow / orange / gold might help, adding a haze of grey over it? - KarinS 10:08, April 4, 2012 (UTC) :::I dislike the new wordmark quite a lot, but the skin I'm overall happy with. It's more dynamic and dramatic. I agree that white-on-black is not the best idea though. It's hard to read for some people (it can leave streak or strobing effects on people's eyes, particularly if like me you are short-sighted!). White-on-grey works better.--Werthead 16:34, April 2, 2012 (UTC) ::::Changed to white on grey. Better?--Opark 77 17:01, April 2, 2012 (UTC) :::::No, it's worse. The top is now so light grey that the text becomes difficult to read. Plus, I'm a fan of the black plus gold/red/orange. The contrast is far too harsh and it makes the pages too crowded - everything is clamoring for attention. It's too much. - Karin, KarinS 17:16, April 2, 2012 (UTC) ::::::Sorry. Perhaps you could suggest a solution?--Opark 77 17:34, April 2, 2012 (UTC) :::::::The grey now no longer is transparent, which is an improvement. And a solution? Yep, we have an old skin that nobody complained about :) - Karin KarinS 18:17, April 2, 2012 (UTC) ::::::::Let me be the first to complain about the old skin: the old skin was an empty landscape that did not evoke the series. I note that in response to the poll absolutely no-one said "Keep the old skin". So lets work together to make a better new skin. Do you have any other complaints we can try to address? I'm a bit confused because you initially complained about the black background being "Massive and lumpish" and then complained that the grey did not have the same contrast as the black. The grey is still transparent, but I have turned the transparency down.--Opark 77 09:18, April 3, 2012 (UTC) ::::I have to agree about the wordmark. I am also having trouble some times writing with the gray font over the transparent background- it clashes with the gold and I can't see what I am typing. -- 16:38, April 2, 2012 (UTC) :::::I'm a bit confused here. Are you talking about the background or the image in the top left under the wikia logo? The latter is the wordmark.--Opark 77 17:01, April 2, 2012 (UTC) :::::Is there anyway to have it Gold and Black? Instead of Gold and Maroon maybe? 18:19, April 2, 2012 (UTC) ::::::The wordmark is a separate issue that we are discussing here. I've tried to change it back to the white one but it appears stuck. I will contact User:XD1 as we had this problem when we changed to the gold/maroon one.--Opark 77 09:21, April 3, 2012 (UTC) ::::::I can't seem to see any background on the first design. Just clear or grey. :::::::The wordmark is a separate issue that we are discussing here.--Opark 77 06:36, April 4, 2012 (UTC)